The South Devons’ seventh annual National Show was recently hosted by the Royal Cheshire County Show at Tabley, Cheshire, and was another big success for this high performing maternal native breed.

South Devon pedigree cattle came from all around the country to compete for some of the most prestigious Society awards under the expert eye of judge Gordon Tully from Brixham, Devon.

Reserve Breed Champion – AI Kestle Dahlia 73

Breed champion was from Somerset - Mells Park Trust’s Mells Park Foxtrot, a three year old first calver by Welland Valley Prince 2, with a well-grown heifer calf at foot by Australian AI sire Torr Down Marvel 3. Male champion was M E & T E Broome’s Welland Valley Pioneer 5, from Thorpe Langton, Leicestershire, a two year old bull by Welland Valley Crusader. However it proved to be ‘ladies day’, as the reserve breed champion was tapped out to R K Rundle’s Newquay, Cornwall bred two year old heifer – AI Kestle Dahlia 73 by AI Grove Bellerophon 3.

Male Champion – Welland Valley Pioneer 5

Junior Champion was A L Pascoe’s Carzise Claudius 4, a stylish yearling bull from Hayle, Cornwall, by Grove Claudius 102 and out of homebred cow Carzise Pauline 23. Best polled animal was Z Polkinghorne Tulip Blitz 58 from Laity Farms, also from Hayle, Cornwall, a 2 year old heifer by Carzise Bentley 2. Best homebred pair came from the Mells Park team.

Team of Four, interbreed class

In the performance and inspection classes: best cow and calf was from Shropshire – R V Hartshorn’s Z Cilgwrrwg Sas Vee; and best young bull was another polled animal under the joint ownership of R V Hartshorn and C W Whitehead, Z Eyton Trusty 3.

Best Polled Animal – Z Polkinghorne Tulip Blitz 58

The Show was held in the ‘Wales and West Midlands region’ of the country, and the award for best animal from the host region was R V Hartshorn’s AI Z Cilgwrrwg SAS Zoom, another 2 year old heifer by Kestle Leo 12.

Best Animal forward from host region – AI Z Cilgwrrwg SAS Zoom

At the Society’s Awards Dinner held in the Presidents marquee at the Show, Breed Secretary Caroline Poultney thanked exhibitors for bringing such a tremendous display of cattle forward, and she said that every animal deserved to be a prize winner, and that not one was out of place at this high profile National Show.

Junior Champion – Carzise Claudius 4

In the interbreed classes, South Devons took the ‘Mother & Daughter’ award, and the reserve championships in both the ‘Pair’ and the ‘Group of Four’, as judged by Mr David Thomlinson who drew spectators’ attention to the strength of the breed and its maternal qualities.